Qeya River A muffled cry and slipping off

Steele had been running for a while, his paws were almost burning now when they hit the ground. He stopped when he felt safer as hung his head. His tongue slipped out of his mouth and he was panting like a dog on a hot day. As he looked up he sighed and felt a bit of grief run through him, what had just happened?, he thought to himself. It was something he couldn't wrap his head around but knew eventually he would get on with his life.

The lanky male made his way to the river, he heard the whooshing and whoffing from afar and knew he'd be there soon. He knew he had to be careful because of the slippery rocks and the rushing of the river. The ground was damp and he was careful to make each move in his mind before hand. Left paw here..... right paw there..... each move he took made him more nervous and even more unstable. His back left paw slipped on a rock and he lost some of his balance, but then he caught it again making sure before taking another step toward the river, the last one, that he was stable enough to lap up some water.

Steele lowered his head and lapped up some of the cold water. It quenched his thirst after a few gulps, but he decided to look around before going back, after all today was about being near death anyway.

With Delight obviously the choice for second-in-command--for seemingly no reason whatsoever--Lily had let herself relax, wandering outside the territory more and more. Alarian would handle it, whatever "it" that came up. And if not him, then Delight, or Lanawyn. She was free to, well, be free, and explore, and find some fun--perhaps, she thought slyly, like the fun she'd had with Dirge.

It was clear, though, as she came up to the bank of the fast-flowing river that the sort of fun she had in mind was not on the agenda. Not unless she ignored the frightened-looking male on the bank, looking around with a thousand-yard stare. She didn't want to startle him further, so she let out a gentle bark well in advance, trotting slowly towards him, her body language relaxed and neutral.

"Hey--are you okay?" Lily asked, canting her head to one side as she stopped well clear of the young man. He was stiff as a rock; something had happened to him, although she knew not what. She certainly hadn't seen him before, and while they weren't exactly in the middle of nowhere, she saw a lot less strangers up here than she had in the mountains.

As he was in his trance state, the bark of another wolf brought him back to the sad reality of his life. He did jump a bit before realizing what he had heard. A glance took him to a darkened wolf to his side, it wasn't his finest hour for what had just happened has made him a bit on edge. He sighed and then gave a slight smile, even though that wouldn't cover up his emotions. 

"Just a bit shaken that's all." he almost stuttered a bit before catching himself in the process. He wanted to tell the story that wasn't his to tell. He knew the wolf was a female by her scent, he was relaxed a bit that it wasn't a male. He carefully stepped on the slippery rocks back to the stable ground and waited for her to reply.

He gave her an answer, but it seemed shaky, as if there was a lot more to the story. She flicked an ear, shuffling her feet a little awkwardly. "Okay. Do you. . .want to talk about it?" she offered, giving a shrug of her slim shoulders. "Might feel better to get it all out in the open."

Lily was a counselor to her pack, but she'd never really thought of herself as that before. She enjoyed talking to others, helping them through their problems--it was only when she met Ali and joined the Sanctuary that she discovered there was a real use for her skills. Why not offer that same service to someone outside the pack?

Especially, she noted, if he needed a place to stay. Then she would take him home.

Steele knew she seen right through it when she had offered him to talk about it. For some reason this had bothered him more than anything else had before. “I guess it might be nice to get it off my chest.” he said as he took one deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. Before he tells this female what he has seen and why he’s so shaken he needed to calm himself... all the way.

”Well I had joined a pack not too long ago... they seemed nice and I hadn’t gotten to know them well enough to know a lot of them. I only knew the Alpha so far, she had brought me in. I had talked to maybe one member of the pack.” he explained the backstory first so she’d understand better that he didn’t know them but that’s why he was shaken is because he wanted to know them. “Anyway, it was a couple days into my stay and then there was some horrific sounds I was hearing and I went to investigate. What I found was.. a... a... bear? I mean I know it was but it shocked me and I guess I just ran... I think I tried to find others to help out of there but I fleed.” He shuddered and for a moment it was a terror state. Steele had never come in contact with something like that before, even living on his own.

Slowly he glanced at the female, he was hoping she wouldn’t think it was childish. He was genuinely afraid and somewhat upset at the bear. He wasn’t that young but had never seen a sight like that and didn’t know if anyone was hurt by it.

He took a moment to compose himself, then sent a gush of words her way. She nodded patiently throughout the whole thing, her eyes widening as he mentioned a bear. "Bear?" she snapped, gaze darting around. "Where did you come from? How close was your pack?"

Well, shit. All the inner turmoil in Bracken Sanctuary and now there was a bloody bear roaming around somewhere near. She heaved a sigh, not enjoying the bare--hee hee, okay, no time for that--fact that she'd have to bring this news, and probably the boy, too, back to Alarian and the others. Still, they needed to be warned, especially if it was an imminent threat.

"Where are the rest of them?" she asked, voice a little hollow. She hated the thought of anyone innocent getting snapped up by a bear. She'd never come face to face with one of the creatures, but Daddy had told her enough harrowing stories to put a clear image in her mind. She shuddered.

Steele could tell she was a bit worried and he knew she had a right to be after all it was a bear. Teeth bigger than there’s and it towers over them by feet. He was exaggerating his thoughts now but he nodded when she kind of questioned bear. He himself had questioned it at first but he was sure now, even more that it came out of his mouth. After a few more minutes of silence to let it sink in a bit more he realized no one was safe because who knows where it is now, but he was going to speak in a calm manner. 

“I came from Ankyra sound, Grimnismals territory. After I left I’m not sure where the bear went or if it’s still there. I’ve ran a long way, but not sure if it’s not enough.” he stopped abruptly. He didn’t want to scare her and probably did just put his foot in his mouth but it was true. He started to speak again but thinking a bit before he said anything, “I’m also not sure who fled and who was still there and if they are all safe. I couldn’t find anyone when I was there so I’m hoping...” 

A sad silence fell after he stopped talking, he wanted her to know genuinely he tried to look but he wanted himself to be safe also. It was hard to see the bear and know that he would almost never know what had happened to the rest of the pack but he knew there were pups and that Caiaphas had a strong maternal instinct... and that had to count for something. Her and Kierkegaard got them out safe, he was sure of it.. he hoped.

Lily shook her head, not at all familiar with either Grimnismal or Ankyra Sound. The second one sounded vaguely like something that would be on the coast, though, and while the ocean was a good distance away, it wasn't far enough to put her mind at ease. She softened her gaze; clearly, the bloke was frightened enough, and she didn't need to make it worse by panicking, especially needlessly.

"I have to go tell my pack about the bear, if it's still roaming," she told him, her voice level. "If you've been run out of your home. . .you should come with me. We're a Sanctuary; we give wolves a place to stay in times of need."

She flicked her black tail and began to walk off, motioning for him to follow. "What's your name?" she asked, craning her neck back to give him a sideways glance.

Steele nodded toward the shadowy wolf as she said she needed to warn her family, he understood as his was taken too soon. As she invited him back with her to her pack he hesitated for a brief moment, he felt like it was a bit soon... but it was safety and he liked the company of the female. He steadily got beside her with a trot.

” I’m Steele, how about you?” He said with a nice smile across his face. She was pretty nice after all that Steele had put on her, a bear, of all things it had to be that. He wondered how far away they were from the Sanctuary and what it was like but didn’t ask, he would just have to find out himself.

She nodded as Steele drew up alongside her, picking up the pace. It wasn't too far from the Sanctuary from where they stood, but she wanted to get back as soon as possible. She wasn't sure how fast bears traveled, but she wasn't taking any chances.

"Lily," she answered, a faint smile flickering over her face in response before it faded back to wariness. She broke into a slow lope, floating up and over the ridge and onto the flat plains that extended out from the Bracken Woods.

I can start a thread for us at Broken Boulder!